Yip, So Win Tata Steel India Blitz as Tata Steel Classical Begins Saturday

The four winners from Tata Steel India, from left: Wesley So, Nihal Sarin, Kateryna Lagno, and Carissa Yip. (All photos courtesy Tata Steel India/Lennart Ootes)

Every January, Tata Steel sponsors one of the northern hemisphere’s biggest highlights of the classical chess calendar in Wijk aan Zee in the Netherlands. This year, Tata Steel looked to take over the entire month and the globe, hosting its seventh edition of Tata Steel Chess India Rapid & Blitz from January 6 through 11 at Dhono Dhanyo Auditorium in Kolkata, India.

The winners pose with the organizers at the closing ceremony in Kolkata.

Indian GM Nihal Sarin and Russian GM Kateryna Lagno won the Open and Women’s rapid titles, respectively, and Americans GM Wesley So and IM Carissa Yip won their respective blitz sections. Yip and So each tied for third in the rapid.

Yip and So pose after their blitz victories.

Yip in action.

Yip got off to a hot 2½/3 start in the rapid with wins over Greek IM Stavroula Tsolakidou and recently crowned World Rapid Champion GM Aleksandra Goryachkina (RUS) on day one.

Things got tougher for Yip on the second day, where her win against Indian IM Vantika Agrawal was canceled out by a loss to Georgian GM Nana Dzagnidze. On day three, Yip scored only ½/3, with losses to Indian GMs Vaishali Rameshbabu and Harika Dronavalli, respectively, in Rounds 7 and 9. A draw in one of those games would have been enough for Yip to tie for second, and Yip indeed had a better position for a moment against Vaishali:

So in action against Arjun Erigaisi.

So’s rapid tournament also got off to an eventful start, with the world number 11 falling to India’s first world champion, legendary GM Viswanathan Anand, in Round 1, only to bounce back with a king walk over a younger challenger in the next game.

The 56-year-old Anand went on to finish second in the rapid with a 6/9 score, only a half-point behind Sarin. Sarin managed to keep his lead over “Vishy” with his own win over So in the penultimate game, before drawing Anand in their head-to-head encounter.

In the blitz, So again started his event with a loss, this time to Indian GM Vidit Gujrathi. But from Rounds 4 through 8, So delivered a streak of five straight victories, finishing with a 7/9 score after the first day. His revenge wins over Sarin and Anand were especially sweet:

So was all smiles during his epic winning streak during the first day of blitz.

So scored “only” 5/9 on day two, starting with consecutive victories before a string of six straight draws. By then, he had already clinched clear first before losing his final game to Praggnanandhaa.

So at the podium with his blitz trophy.

Yip also got off to a hot start in blitz, starting her event with a 4/4 score just like she did last month in Doha. From there, consecutive losses brought her back down to a 4/6 score before a win against Lagno and consecutive draws closed her out with a 6/9 score good enough for the lead on day one. Her first two wins are below:

On the second day, Yip’s 4½/9 score allowed Vantika to catch the leader thanks to a string of four straight victories to end the event, beginning with a win over Yip in Round 15.

All eyes were on Yip during her tiebreak match.

But in the tiebreaks, Yip struck first:

By holding a draw in the return game, Yip left Kolkata with a first-place finish in her first Tata Steel event.

Yip on the podium with her blitz trophy.

The first round of the classical Tata Steel tournament begins Saturday, Jan. 17 at 7:00 a.m. CST, with five familiar faces from Kolkata taking the 4,000+ mile trip to the Netherlands to compete less than a week after the end of their last event: GMs Arjun Erigaisi, Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu, Hans Niemann, and Aravindh Chithambaram will all be competing in the Masters section, while Yip will be competing in the Challengers section. Joining Yip in the Challengers is GM Andy Woodward, bringing the total of American players in Wijk aan Zee up to three.

The 13-round Round Robin is known for its especially grueling pace compared to typical nine- or 11-round events. The Masters section boasts its youngest average age yet, as well, with GM Vincent Keymer — currently rated fourth in the world — entering as the top-seeded player in a field that includes the reigning world champion (GM Gukesh Dommaraju), three players in this year’s Candidates (Praggnanandhaa, GM Anish Giri, and GM Javokhir Sindarov) and more.

Pairings for Saturday’s opening round have already been announced. Niemann has the white pieces against Slovenian GM Vladimir Fedoseev in the Masters, while Yip and Woodward each have the black pieces against Ukrainian GM Vasyl Ivanchuk and Kazakhstani GM Bibisara Assaubayeva, respectively.